“Too much to drink,” Titus said softly, drawing their attention back to him. “Go ahead with your questions.”

Spence exchanged a nervous glance with the others and then spoke. “Where is Nibiru?” Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two burly Nephilim appear and half drag, half carry Seth through the crowd and toward the door.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Have you heard of Earth?”

“I know it is the land you come from. The last questers came from Earth,” Titus said.

“And where is Nibiru compared to Earth?” Caleb asked.

“I am not sure. I just know the gods bring the questers to the arena. If they survive the battle, they come here.”

“Does anyone complete the quest and return to Earth?” Caleb said.

“I do not know. I just escort the questors halfway to the Forbidden Forest. None have returned here.” Titus sipped from his fresh mug and nodded for the others to do so.

“I hope ours are a little smoother than Seth’s,” Trey said. He peered inside the wooden mug and swirled the liquid. He sniffed it, shrugged, and then swigged a deep drink. “Ah! I’m starting to like this place a little better.”

Caleb went next. He gulped deeply and let out a sigh when he came up for air. Morgan took an experimental taste and then swallowed a couple of bigger swigs.

“Uh, guys, we’re not old enough to drink beer,” Spence said, wrinkling his nose as he sniffed his. His parents occasionally drank wine and beer but didn’t allow him to sample them.

“Spence, so help me, I’ll hang you from the chandelier by your underwear with the wedgie I’m about to give you,” Trey said, finishing a second drink.

Spence glared at Trey and then turned up his mug in defiance. The drink was slightly bitter and burned a little going down, but it wasn’t too bad, and he remembered just how thirsty he was. He drank deeply.

“Our quest is to kill monsters that prevent each race from leaving their territory,” Caleb said after emptying half of his mug. “Is that what the quest always is?”

Titus scratched his scruffy chin. “Usually some version of that, I guess.”

“So is the purpose of our quest to unite all the races?” Morgan asked.

“Or to just grant them the freedom to leave their lands?” Spence added.

“It is hard to say. I am sure granting us freedom is part of it. I am not sure about the uniting, though,” Titus said.

“What type of monster corrals you?” Spence asked.

“I am unsure. It has been a while since anyone from Argos has tried to travel to the other lands. As far as I know, no one has tried to reach us either.”

“Then how do you know there is still a monster out there?” Trey said.

“I have heard enough horrible sounds when I escort the questers. And people do occasionally leave the protection of our walls. When they do not return, we can only guess their fate. I just do not know the specific monster.”

“What do we do when we leave here?” Caleb asked.

“I will get you halfway to the Forbidden Forest. Then you must journey to the elven town of Sabekha and seek out Illexya. She will guide you to the path to the dwarves.”

“Alexa?” Trey asked. “Cool, maybe she can play some tunes for us.”

“Illexya, idiot!” Morgan said.

Trey grinned and flipped her the bird.

Spence tried to ignore them both. “And we’ll fight another monster between the elves and dwarves?”

“Yes. And between the dwarves and the Draconians.”

“How did you get appointed to help the questers?” Morgan asked.

“It is said Ra approached my father many years ago and appointed him leader of this town. As leader, one of his tasks was to escort the questers. He began taking me with him when I was a teen. After he passed away, I became the leader. Although being the leader does not mean much here.” Titus abruptly stood. “Well, it is time for me to go. I will meet you at the general store down the street tomorrow morning. I suggest you eat and get some rooms here for the night. You can buy supplies for your journey at the store in the morning. There should be money in your packs. Good night.”

The four watched him glide through the crowd and disappear through the door. “What do you all think?” Trey asked. He finished the rest of his drink and waved to the server halfway across the room.

“I’m in the longest and weirdest dream ever,” Morgan spoke first.

“Or in the best dream ever,” Spence said. His body was warm and tingly from the drink.

The three turned to Caleb. “Whatever this place is, it’s bizarre—Nephilim, elves, dwarves, and lizard people; gods named after ancient gods on Earth; monsters and magic weapons…. Is it a mythical planet or another dimension? I guess we have no choice for now but to play along.”

The server returned, and they all ordered more ale, as she called it, and dinner. She said she would bring them the nightly special. The mood of the four lifted as they indulged in more of the alcoholic beverage. The food arrived and consisted of meat similar to a beef pot roast, boiled potatoes and cabbage, and hard bread. The meat was not very flavorful, but they all realized they were starving. Morgan traded her meat away to the other three in exchange for extra potatoes, cabbage, and bread.

“Do you think our buddy Seth was poisoned?” Trey asked, chewing and talking with his mouth open.

“Of course,” Caleb responded.

“By the gods?” Trey asked.

“By the bartender or server. I’m not sure what to think about the gods. It sounds like they’re sending holograms or projections. But that must mean they exist in some form or another.”

“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Help me, Obi-Wan,” Morgan said, laughing. Her cheeks glowed red.

“Good one!” Spence said enthusiastically and slapped the table with his hand. He was impressed with the Star Wars reference.

“Looks like Hansel and Gretel are drunk,” Trey said, finishing off his second mug.

“And you’re still a bloated piece of refuse,” Morgan said, trying to look angry but with a smile creeping into the corners of her mouth.

Trey began to retort but then shook his head and returned to drinking and eating. They finished the food and ordered another round of drinks. Caleb inquired with the server about rooms for the night. Spence was growing very tired, both from the ale and the crazy events of the past two days. He could see the others were too. It seemed like a week since they had been on their class field trip.

When the server returned with fresh mugs, she informed them that just two rooms were available. Caleb scrounged in his pack and found enough strange coins to pay for the food and rooms. The server just picked out the combination of copper and silver coins she claimed covered them. She gave them two keys and explained that the rooms were up the stairs in the corner. The keys were numbered ten and eleven. She mentioned a privy was at the end of the hall upstairs.

“What the hell is a privy?” Trey asked.

“A bathroom,” Caleb replied.

“Oh, great, we get a communal bathroom,” Morgan said, rolling her eyes.

“I’m betting it won’t be nice either,” Spence said.

“Hopefully, it will beat last night, though,” Morgan replied.

“Well, Morgan, since there are two rooms and four of us, I guess you get to pick your roommate,” Caleb said, his speech slightly slurred.

“Me and you, baby,” Trey said, leaning toward Morgan and grinning widely.

“Not enough ale in this world or ours, Bluto,” Morgan replied, sticking her finger in her mouth and making a retching sound.

“So, it’s true that you’re not into men?”

“Well, if I see a man, I’ll let you know.” Morgan turned away from Trey and stared at Caleb and Spence. “Spence, I guess I distrust you less than Rambo and Bluto. Let’s go.” Morgan stood, grabbed a key, and headed toward the stairs.

“You girls have fun. Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” Spence said, scrambling up and following Morgan. Even though his head swam, and he was a little unbalanced, he managed to jump over Trey’s outstretched foot. He was tempted to turn around and strike it with his staff but was in too good of a mood to let Trey bring him down. Between the ale, the battle, the encounter with the three Nephilim, being in a strange Warcraft-like world, walking again, and getting to room with Morgan, this was shaping up to be the best two days of his life.

Spence followed Morgan up the wooden staircase, both swaying slightly. At the top, a narrow hallway lined with doors on one side led to the right. Each wooden door had a number burned into it. Morgan stopped at door number ten and used the skeleton key to open it.

The room inside was minimally furnished: two twin-size beds, a wooden dresser with a large bowl of water on it and a small mirror behind, a high-backed blue cloth chair, and a nightstand between the beds with a burning oil lamp on it. The far wall contained a window with a ragged curtain hanging in front. Old, threadbare rugs covered most of the floor, and rough, unfinished boards made the walls and ceiling.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” Morgan announced and abruptly left the room.

Spence walked over to the dresser and splashed some of the water from the basin onto his face. He removed his belt and robe and laid them at the foot of one of the beds. He gingerly leaned his staff against the wall beside the head of the bed and then sat, his head still swimming slightly from the ale. He was exhausted. He had no idea of the time, but his body told him it was late.

The door swung open, and Morgan entered. “Oh my God! The privy is basically the nastiest outhouse ever! There is just a wooden bench with a hole. Who knows where it leads—probably to the street below. There’s an old bathtub with dirt rings a half-inch thick with a bucket beside it, but I have no idea where you would get water. And you will die if you breathe the fumes.”

“I was afraid of that. Bathrooms and hygiene weren’t the greatest before modern times.”

“It just keeps getting better and better. Why don’t you go take your turn, and I’ll undress and get into bed?”

Spence nodded, stood, and walked out into the hall. He began heading toward the door at the far end when the door to room eleven opened. Trey staggered out, nearly bumping into him. Spence moved over just in time to avoid a collision and continued walking down the hall. Then Trey’s large hand grabbed his left shoulder.

“Where you think you’re going, nerd boy?” Trey shoved Spence hard against the wall, then brushed his way past him and walked toward the bathroom door.

Rage coursed through Spence’s body. The exhaustion and the effects of the ale disappeared, and his head was clear. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth tightly together. He wanted to charge Trey and shove him down or punch him in the back of the head. But he knew Trey could hurt him badly. He then considered running to get his staff and blasting Trey and the privy into oblivion. Spence didn’t know if he could do that, though. He hated Trey worse than anyone he had ever known but didn’t know if he could kill him in cold blood. Besides, he might need Trey and the others to complete the quest. Someday though…someday, he would pay Trey back for everything he had ever done to him.

Instead of waiting on Trey, Spence went downstairs and found another bathroom. It appeared the same as Morgan had described the one upstairs. Luckily, he could do his business standing. He held his breath and quickly finished. He returned upstairs and slipped into the room without seeing Trey again.

He was disappointed to find Morgan in the bed asleep, with the stained white sheet pulled to her neck. He had hoped to try to get to know her better. Oh well, there would be plenty of chances for that over the coming journey. He removed his boots and slid into his bed. He tried not to think of what else might have slept on that same mattress or about the laundry practices of the inn. He had planned to reflect more on the day, Nibiru, and their quest but was asleep moments after extinguishing the lamp.